Perfect weather for a ride: Sunny and cool (60's), not too windy. Today we're headed south and east. (That's the royal we; this was a solo ride, although Rhonda was kind enough to bring me picnic lunches both days.) Starting from my home near Long Beach's traffic circle, I checked in at Cal State University, then headed east along the Garden Grove Freeway and south on Seal Beach Boulevard. Picked up Pacific Coast Highway and rode down the shore, where my embarrassing lycra outfit blended fairly well with the wetsuit-sporting surfers at Huntington Beach. On past Newport Beach and out the four-mile peninsula of Balboa. Back to Huntington Beach to pick up the Santa Ana River Trail. Twelve miles north, I'm passing Anaheim Stadium, home of the Rally Monkey and the 2002 World Series champion Angels. River and trail curve east along the Riverside Freeway, where we finally end at Gypsum Canyon Road. Total 55 miles, with not much elevation change, so it just barely qualifies at with a 127 rating. I'm stiff, chafed, and sunburned, but nothing serious.
3/30/2008
152
Same lovely weather; better pack lots of sunblock. This time from the Garden Grove Freeway I turn up the San Gabriel River Trail. A "river" in Los Angeles is usually a large concrete conduit, but this one gets progressively greener and more scenic as you head north towards the San Gabriel Mountains. At Whittier I turn off for an eight-mile side trip, the length of the Upper Rio Hondo trail to Arcadia. On the way back, I take another side trip, a three-mile loop around Legg Lake and Whittier Narrows. Heading north again on the San Gabriel, I pass many horse farms and several Latino rodeos, and I pause to watch a rider lasso a steer. The Santa Fe Dam gives me my biggest hill of the trip and magnificent views as the trail traverses the top. The San Gabriel Trail and I quit at the same place, in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest. 57 miles, so again I'm just over the mark with a 152 rating. I'm more stiff, more chafed, and more sunburned, but nothing that a few days of quiet whimpering won't cure.